Miles Kirkland, 16, as seen in this Aug. 20, 2014, Advance file photo, died after collapsing during varsity football practice at Curtis High School Monday morning. Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 16-year-old Curtis High School student has died after collapsing during varsity football practice Monday morning.

The student, Miles Kirkland, a junior heading into his third year of varsity play for the school, was pronounced dead when he arrived at Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, Monday.

An ambulance arrived at the scene at about 10:45 a.m., and, according to one witness, a group of firefighters performed CPR for several minutes to try to revive him.

"They did chest compressions for about 10 minutes and then loaded him into the ambulance," said Michael Dressler, who came upon the scene, and the FDNY and NYPD vehicles, as he walked past the football field.

A spokeswoman for the city medical examiner's office said an autopsy will likely be conducted on Tuesday to determine his cause of death.

Curtis Athletic Director Eric Ritzer said that he received a call about what happened, and headed to the hospital to speak with the team and the coaching staff.

The staff called 911 as soon as Kirkland collapsed, Ritzer said.

"As you can imagine it was a very emotional scene," said Ritzer. "Most of the team if not all of the team was there.... All of us are trying to fathom what just happened."

Kirkland, who stood at 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 295 pounds, played as an offensive and defensive lineman, according to a scouting report for the upcoming season.

He saw significant playing time on the varsity as a sophomore and was slated to be a starter this season at right guard.

The coaching staff is "distraught beyond imagination," Ritzer said.

"We met with the students and we're going to bring the students in to have grief counselors with them and not only them but the coaching staff," said Ritzer.

City Department of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg wouldn't comment Monday on Kirkland's death except to say that it's under investigation.

"A crisis team will be at the school to help counsel students and staff," she said.

In a written statement, City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said, "I am deeply saddened to learn of this tragic loss and my heart goes out to the family. We will be supporting the school community as we investigate the matter."

According to Accuweather, the temperature at 10 a.m. Monday was 78 degrees with 75 percent humidity. At 11 a.m., it measured at 80 degrees with 72 percent humidity.

The Public School Athletic League, which covers only public high schools, requires all exercise to stop if the temperature reaches 85 degrees and the humidity reaches 80 percent. If the humidity is between 50 and 80 percent, the PSAL rules warn, "extreme caution must be exercised."

Last August, the mother of Nicholas Dellaventura -- a 15-year-old St. Joseph-by-the-Sea student who died after being overcome by heat during a late afternoon-early evening practice on July 23, 2012 - sued Sea, its principal, its coaches and the Archdiocese, seeking $10 million in damages.

Word of Kirkland's death led to an outpouring of grief on Twitter Monday: